Construction update May 2023: concrete on repeat

A massive crane stands high above a construction site.

May 5, 2023

Construction crews continue to make great progress on the Obama Presidential Center. At the Museum building, concrete work continues on the elevator and stair cores and the exterior walls as crews make progress upwards floor by floor. When complete, the Museum will be a total of 8 floors with a complete height of approximately 225 feet. Work on the Museum building has also reached an exciting milestone with the placement of the street level deck to form the concrete floor at this level.

Concrete work continues at the Forum and Library buildings as crews work to complete the street level floor slabs for each. Street level walls in these buildings are also starting to be formed. Minor work in the underground parking garage progresses as major structural work in the garage has been completed. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing trades continue to install systems across the campus.

At the end of March, progress towards ambitious workforce and business diversity goals for construction reflected the following:

  • 52 percent of construction contracts have been awarded to diverse vendors.

  • 31 percent of the workforce hired live in the South and West Sides of Chicago.

  • 287 candidates in jobs around the city.

A construction site with two workers smoothing a large concrete pour.

Two workers engaged in concrete finishing work on the street level Museum deck.

A massive crane stands high above a construction site.

The lower level of the Forum building is completely decked over as crews pour the street level floor slab of the building. In the background, is the nearly complete underground parking garage. As the project progresses, landscape with slope over the garage and form the height of the sledding hill.

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Your donation makes it possible for us to build a world-class museum, library, and gathering spaces on Chicago’s South Side.

Donate to the Barack Obama Foundation. The Barack Obama Foundation is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 46-4950751).

3D rendering of the Obama Presidential Center Plaza

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